2013 Jaguar F type

 

                         2013 Jaguar F 

 

Jaguar India launched their much anticipated sportscar of this year in the Indian market the F type. This car really will impress anybody who dares to look at it, it is designed by Ian Callum the head of design of Jaguar, he took special care to give this new F type the modern touch and also kept in mind that it carried some of the styling features of the old E type which is still considered as one of the most beautiful car ever made. The new Jaguar was showcased at the Paris Motor show earlier this year and everybody fell in love with this new beast. This new F type is also special for millions of Jaguar lover’s because Jaguar has created a 2 seater convertible sportscar after a long span of time. This new Jaguar not only looks fantastic but the Engineers have worked hard to extract maximum performance from its engine and finally when the looks and performance blended together the F type was born.
Jaguar offered three models of this F type to the world but unfortunately India got only two variants the entry level 3,0 litre supercharged V6 S with 372bhp of power on tap and the bigger 5000cc V8 S which has 488bhp of power on tap. Sounds alluring right? but does this new Jaguar F type has what it takes to be the worthy successor to the legendary Jaguar E type. Lets find out shall we?

Styling and interior

I have always described the styling of a car all the way from the front to its rear but because this Jag is special and the highlight of this Jag lies at its rear styling so I will start describing this F type from the rear and will gradually come to its front styling at the end. The tapering rear of the F type looks extremely stylish, aerodynamic and sporty. There is a thin line which starts from rear taillight which is the most stylish element of the rear and goes all the way to the front of the car’s bumper. The rear tail lamps stretches all the way to the rear side profile of the car and adds a little futuristic look its styling has been inspired from the original E type, there is also a rear spoiler which rises automatically when you are driving the Jaguar in high speeds not to mention the dual exhausts at the rear looks bold and gives you a feeling of sleeping beast ready to feast on its prey with a just a flick of a switch the only visual difference between the V6 and V8 is that the V6 has twin exhaust as mentioned above whereas the V8 has quads exhaust placed at both the sides of the rear end. Coming to the side profile of the F type you will find there are no door handles instead it has flush doors and the basic concept is that when you move towards the car and you unlock it with a key fob the door handles automatically pops out of the side door and that is how you can get inside the new F type.

Coming to the front of the sportscar has a huge grille finished in black with the iconic Jaguar logo placed in the middle. The huge front headlamps is stretched all the way to the front bonnet and has day time running lamps which makes it looks even more stylish and sharp. The muscular looking front hood also adds to the overall stylish design elements of the new F type. It also has a shark gill type front bumper which according to me does not look that much attractive.
Overall this sportscar looks stunning and the small visual elements like the pop up door handlebars, the daytime running lamps and the rear exhaust will attract more crowd towards the new car. The new design elements in the F type has raised the styling benchmark of the new sportscar’s to a whole new level.
The overall dimension of the new jaguar F type has been provided below:

Length		4470mm
Width		1923mm
Height		1296mm
Wheel base		2622mm
Boot volume		196litres

Get inside the new F type cabin and you will be happy to see that it has almost everything that you can expect from a premium sportscar. The new F type has all the luxuries and goodies inside the car but Jaguar might have wanted to give the driver more attention than the side passenger so they have made the whole cockpit a little driver oriented. The materials and fit and finish are of top notch quality and the little touches like the glowing dials and knobs looks beautiful and also sets the standard quite high. There is also an air-vent which pops up from above the dashboard. There is some more to the interiors the owner can customize the interiors the way they want. There is one another major change in the F type and that is that there is a small and handy sport shift instead of the typical Jaguar rotary knob. There is also a touch screen driver interface perfectly positioned in the central console. There are also lots of other goodies that you can play with, one of them is the Active exhaust what it does once activated is that it activates the bypass valves which open during performance driving and allows exhaust gases to exit more directly for a deep, dramatic sound or you can call it a growl. The Jaguar F type is a two seater convertible and so it has seating capacity for only two persons inside the cabin or rather I will call it a cockpit.

The steering wheel looks and feels solid and the bright colored paddle shifts looks good too on the steering wheel. The instrument cluster also provides all the information required about the new F type. Coming to the seats they are quite comfortable and not to sunk in like the other sportscar’s and thus you will have a good view of the road ahead of you. Lastly this is a convertible and thus the automatic soft top just takes just 12 seconds to close.

Engine and performance

Now I will talk about the most interesting part of the vehicle that you all are eagerly waiting for it’s engine and performance part. I will only be talking about the two car’s performance and engines that are available in India, the first one is the base version which is known as V6 S and has 373 bhp of power in stored for you to play with and there is the bigger monster V8 S with 488bhp of power in stored for you.
Coming to the performance part the Jaguar F type V8 S is a true sportscar by every means, it has a responsive typical sportscar type steering and great body control. There is enough power when you tap the throttle. The engine is super responsive and it feels like this car is not only meant for roads but also for the race track. The 8 speed automatic gearbox works perfectly and changes instantly with a push on the lever. Both the V6 S and the V8 S are two powerful vehicles but they are not wild and can be tamed which is one big advantage and plus point for the F type.
The engine details for both the Jaguar variants are provided below:

Variant		V6 S		V8 s
Cylinders		6		8
Capacity (cc)		2,995		5,000
Maximum powerEEC-PS (kW)		280		364
@rev/min		6,500		6,500
Maximum torque EEC-N		339		460
@ rev / min		3,500 - 5,000		2,500 - 5,500

Ride and handling

The ride and handling of the new F type is superb, the sportscar is responsive and agile in the corners and once you turn off the traction control after that you can do almost everything that you ever dreamed of with a powerful sportscar like throwing it into the corners, drifting sideways, doing donuts etc. But as far as our Indian roads are concerned you can face a little bit of a problem with the V8 because its exceptionally fast and perhaps too quick and powerful for our Indian roads, thus the V6 S is perfect for our Indian roads. There is one another problem with any sportscar is that the suspension setup remains a bit on the stiffer side but the Jaguar f type suspension is not that stiff and perhaps that’s an extra advantage for our Indian road conditions.
The reason behind such great handling of the F type lies in its chassis construction, the new F type has been built around a fourth generation Aluminium construction. This Aluminium construction provides the extra stiffness for your ride and there is one another reason and that is the weight distribution in the car is in 50:50 ratio. For the aid of driver there are some other goodies too,take for example the dynamic mode only, it allows the driver to select or literally configure the car according to his own needs and requirements. There is also a sports mode, once activated it electronically changes the gearshift programme and commands it to deliver short shifts and hold the ratios at higher revs for longer period of time to extract maximum power and performance from the engine.

Overall the new F type behaves like a proper sportscar, the engine along with the steering wheel is sharp and responds in a fantastic way. The standard 245/40R19 inch tyres at the front of the V6 and 275/35R19 tyres at the rear provides ample of grip on any road surface, whereas the 255/35R20 at the front and 295/30R20 at the rear of the V8 also does gives the driver lots of confidence.
The F type also has been provided with some serious stopping power:

Variants		V6 S		V8 S
Front disc diameter (mm)		380		380
Rear disc diameter (mm)		325		376

The suspension setup system in the Jaguar F type:

Front		Double wishbone, coil springs, anti-roll bar
Rear		Double wishbones, coil springs, anti-roll bar

Safety features

The F type although is a sports car but there is still plenty of safety features which has been added in the car for the safety of the passengers inside the vehicle:
 Emergency Brake Assist system(EBA)
 Electronic Brake Force Distribution(EBD)
 Pedestrian Contact Sensing System

Pricing

The new jaguar F type has been priced:
Rs. 1.37 crore(ex-showroom, Mumbai) for the V6 S and Rs. 1.61 crore for the powerful V8 S (ex-showroom, Mumbai).

Conclusion

The new F type is an worthy successor to the E type which was one of the most beautiful and powerful sportscar from the stable of Jaguar and won many hearts in the 60’s era and it still looks beautiful and very modern even in this era. The new Jaguar F type also looks beautiful has the unmatched performance, power and handling characteristics that every sportscar should have and above all can bring a smile to anyone’s face who loves fast cars and the pure Adrenalin rush. This F type is only for very few selected people who can spend 1.31 Crores behind the sportscar which is worthy successor to the legendary E type.